Semper Fidelis Ch. 02

The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 7 - Politics

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redheaded reporterette, wearing a green dress on this St. Patrick's Day, Thursday, March 17th. "The County and indeed the entire State is reeling after the announcement that Governor Val Jared is running for re-election as Governor!"

Bettina went on: "Democrats condemned Jared, saying he was breaking his promise of a one-term Governorship, and that breaking that pledge shows his total dishonesty and corruption. Republicans countered that it is Jack Lewis who is corrupt after his SBI murdered a United States Marine in a botched drug raid where the wrong house was raided.

"Polls show that while Director Lewis's numbers have not yet been substantially hurt by the SBI incident, Establishment Republican Sean Stockton's numbers have cratered. In a spot poll last night conducted by Public Policy Polling, Governor Jared's lead for the Republican nomination for Governor is 82-18 percent. The State and local primaries will be held Tuesday, May 3d."

Bettina continued. "And in other news, the Town & County Police Department announced that Lieutenant Tanya Perlman will retire on May 1st, after accepting an agreement offered by the Town & County Council!"

A groan went up in the crowded MCD room. Bettina continued: "Lt. Perlman was wounded and paralyzed in an attack on her home in early February. And in a related story, Governor Jared announced that Lt. Perlman will be taking over as Director of the new State Crime Lab, which is nearing completion just north of the University Campus. The Police Department has declined to comment on who will be taking over Lt. Perlman's position as leader of the Major Crimes Department. We reached out to Commander Donald Troy, who issued a statement congratulating Lt. Perlman on the new Director job, and further saying simply that 'speculation on the Major Crimes unit is a waste of time. They will continue to do the same outstanding job they always have'."

"Does that mean it's a done deal?" asked Theo Washington to Martin Nash. "Can we start calling you 'Lieutenant Nash' now?"

"And start calling you one of Crowbar's Angels?" teased Julie Newton of Vice. To their surprise, Nash looked a little uncomfortable.

"No word on that yet." said Nash. "And it may not happen, so don't start spreading rumors."

"I know what you're feeling." said Christopher Purvis, also of Vice. "Lt. Perlman's paralysis is what opened this up for you, and it doesn't seem right. But in football, if a teammate fumbles and the ball comes to you, you gotta pick it up and run with it. Bad analogy, I know..."

"No, I understand." said Nash. "But that's not what I'm thinking."

"Okay, folks," Captain Ross said as she entered the room. "Let's please not speculate any further."

"You're killing all of my fun, Captain." I said as I poured a cup of coffee. I was in civilian clothes today, so that I could wear a green golf/polo shirt. I had an orange t-shirt on underneath it, and khaki pants. My badge was on my belt, and my gun in a shoulder holster, over which I could put a jacket if I needed to. "But yes, everyone, Captain Ross is right that speculation serves us no good purpose."

"What's with the orange, Commander?" Theo asked.

"It's St. Patrick's Day." I said. "Green is for the Catholics, and I wear it so Captain Ross won't pinch me on the butt."

Laughter ensued, then I said "Orange is for the Protestants. The Irish flag is green, white, and orange for the same reasons."

"What's the white stand for?" asked Nash.

"It's to keep the Green and the Orange separated." I said. "They used to fight all the time, you know..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How in the world did this happen?" he asked. "Do you realize the sheer magnitude of the damage that has been done to my plans?"

Katherine Woodburn looked at him as he casually glanced around her office here in her home. "It's been pretty bad for me, as well. I was just lining up Robert Brownlee for the Director of the State Crime Lab, as we'd discussed. Harold Bennett is weak, and is easily maneuvered. Then Tanya Perlman was wounded, but left alive and not finished off, and now the Iron Crowbar has maneuvered to put her in that slot."

"Harrumph, that is a small thing." he said. "Nothing compared to what I'm facing: Pelletier is about to be exposed. Ferrell might be exposed. Jack Lewis can kiss the Governor's Mansion goodbye. And my own excellent source of recruits is being looked into by the FBI. Shutting that down would bring severe damage to me. It would put me in positive danger of losing my liberty."

"Yes sir, which is what I was about to say." said Katherine. "With Lewis as Governor, there would be almost no limits to what you and I can achieve. Give me the State, and you take as much of the rest of the Nation as you like. Lewis would crush Sean 'Act of Love' Stockton, but Val Jared is going to annihilate Lewis."

"I happen to agree with you." he said. "But it may not matter, at least for me. I've been making plans to relocate, perhaps to the New England States. The autumns are beautiful there and some of my friends are preparing their defenses for the coming Race Wars there. But that damned Iron Crowbar is all over me now. I fear that his restraint will break if another incident like what happened to Ms. Perlman occurs. His allowing himself to be constrained by the law is the only thing keeping him back now. He wants to see me in the dock; I say I shall never stand in the dock. Ergo, he may snap and seek a more... permanent solution."

Katherine acted as if she was thinking. "Let me ask you something... how did the Iron Crowbar get onto your so-called Recruiters, the ones who gather the manpower for you?"

"Oh, that was the case where someone was planting my people's badges on dead people." he said. "Led the FBI right to my people, damn it all!"

"And who planted those badges?" Katherine asked.

"I..." he started, then stopped. "I have to admit that I don't really know. I thought it might be that Eckhart bastard, the Iron Crowbar's uncle and the Blonde Pitbull's father. But my sources in his organization say that he had nothing to do with it. So..." He shrugged is shoulders. "Even I don't know the answers to everything. But I will find out. And when I do..."

"I don't know, either." said Katherine. "But it would seem to be someone who could access badges and their RFID chips, and someone knowledgeable of the crimes... perhaps foreknowledge. Perhaps... they were left by the Iron Crowbar himself."

He nodded. "I like the way you think, Senator Woodburn." He got up to go. "Well, I need to be off to my duties. I am telling my people to step up our plans to destroy the Iron Crowbar once and for all. Time grows short, and thing are beginning to get 'warm', as the children say in that game they play..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

State Senator Sean Stockton walked up to the closed door at the State Capitol in Midtown. Adjusting his tie, he mentally steeled himself before opening the door and going inside.

Inside the conference room, with white drapes hanging and partially covering the true blue walls, a number of prominent State Republicans were seated at one end of the long table. Staffers were at the other end. At the head of the table was State Representative Wilson Hammonds, Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

"Have a seat, Sean." said Hammonds. Stockton noticed that the seat was not near the end of the table, and was meant to convey that Stockton's 'stock' had fallen precipitously over the course of less than one day. Stockton considered leaving, then decided that doing so was political suicide. He went to the other side of the table and sat down at the seat designated for him.

"Okay," said Hammonds, "there is no doubt that Governor Jared entering the race changes everything. I had breakfast with him this morning, and he wants to meet with you today, Sean. Anyway, I learned two things: first, that he is very seriously intent on beating the hell out of Jack Lewis, and maybe not just politically..." There was laughter from everyone... except Sean Stockton.

"Second," Hammonds said, having observed Stockton's demeanor, "I am convinced that Jared is serious about helping the Republican Party as well as running his own campaign. There were some, may still be, that believed he was not fully committed to the Party. But he says he's 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. Sean, I think you've seen----"

"That's 'Senator Stockton', Representative Hammonds." Stockton said indignantly. Hammonds frowned deeply; he knew what Stockton was conveying... that he intended to continue the fight for the nomination, and that Stockton was going to take this personally.

"We're all friends here." said Hammonds. "We're all Republicans, on the same side."

"Are we?" replied Stockton acidly. "Yesterday we were having meetings about my campaign for Governor. Today you're telling me you're breakfasting with the Governor, a breakfast to which I was not invited, while I just get a phone call telling me to come to this meeting in a tone that sounded like Army orders. And when I get here I'm relegated to this seat at the table and in a meeting of all these people -and- everyone's staff except mine. I can see who my friends are, and I don't see any at this table right now."

"Why you little---" started Hammonds, his eyes ablaze at Stockton's effrontery, though Stockton was a Senator and a candidate for Governor.

"Mr. Hammonds," said Rep. Sharon Marshall, who was from Westphalia, "I believe Senator Stockton has a valid point. He is not being treated with respect. I suggest that he, you, myself, and Senator Molinari get together in the side room and talk more privately."

"An excellent idea, Sharon." said 'Moe' Molinari, who was the State Senator for Westphalia and Eastphalia and the area just south of the City. He was a tough, grizzled war veteran and experienced politician, and was called the 'Republican Cerone', the counterweight to Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone. If Molinari had Mob ties, no one had ever been able to get wind of it, much less prove it... and most did not care to find out.

Stockton agreed, and the four of them went into a side room. It had a small round table with four ornate chairs. They sat down, Hammonds on the far side facing the door, Stockton facing him with his back to the door. Sharon Marshall was to Stockton's left, Molinari to his right.

"You've just buried yourself in a pile of shit, Stockton---" started Hammonds, but Molinari intervened.

"Hold on, Wilson, there's no need to get ugly right now." Molinari said, his voice raspy and quiet, and Italian-accented. "Sean, you and I have been friends for years now, and I've admired your progress through the ranks. But there are some realities here that you need to understand. Sharon, why don't you explain the numbers."

"Senator," said Rep. Marshall to Stockton, being polite and respectful, "as we discussed in our meeting a couple of days ago, your numbers were at 39%. That is the absolute, rock-bottom. We know that 39% is the base number of people that will vote Republican no matter who we nominate. You're getting no independents at all."

"C'mon, Sharon," said Stockton, "after this SBI debacle, Jack Lewis is dead in the water. The next polls will have me climbing sky-high."

"No, they won't." said Sharon Marshall. "I've already gotten spot-polling from our own people, as well as Public Policy Polling, KXTC and KCTY (a City station). There was no movement on the needle until Val announced he was getting in. Your candidacy is so toxic that even the SBI murdering a U.S. Marine isn't going to help you."

"I can't believe that." said Sean Stockton, halfway to himself. "A Marine gets murdered by Lewis's SBI, and the voters don't even care?"

"That's how toxic you've made the Republican brand, Stockton." Wilson Hammonds said venomously.

"Wilson, you are not helping." said Molinari. "Sean, look at it this way: you know that the Media is telling the American People an outright lie when they say the 'Independents' are in the middle between Republicans and Democrats. In truth, the 'Independents' are who we once called the 'Reagan Democrats'. They are Grassroots Conservatives that are sick and tired of being lied to by the likes of John Boehner and Paul Ryan, tired of those bastards urinating in the voters' faces and telling them it's raining, then telling voters they have no choice but to vote for whoever is the Republicans put out there and tell them to vote for."

"But that's true." said Stockton. "They have no choice. It's us or the Democrats."

"There's a third choice." said Sharon Marshall. "They stay at home. And in this race, the Grassroots Conservatives that call themselves 'Independents' have made it very clear that they will not vote for you, no matter what. Senator, your campaign is already dead."

"Jared is already cutting into Lewis's lead." said Wilson Hammonds, his voice harsh, as if he wanted his words to cause physical pain to Stockton. "I hate Val Jared as much as I hate any Democrat, but as I said outside, Jared is committed to defeating Lewis, and he's committed to advancing the Republican agenda. And he hasn't offended the Conservatives like you have, the true Conservatives as opposed to whatever the Media is calling 'Conservative' these days. We are all getting shellacked on the Immigration issue. Val Jared is above that, so far."

"Well, it's going to come up." said Stockton. "I damn well guarantee it. You know I can say in here what we can't say out there in public: every one of us, all three of you as well as me, are beholden to the Big Business companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They've given us untold millions, and they expect results in return. And they'll expect the same damned results from Val Jared!"

"Look, we're rehashing old stuff here." said Wilson Hammonds. "Stockton, you're starting to sound like the Iron Crowbar, may God strike him dead. Now here's what's happening. You're going to very gracefully drop out of the race for Governor, and endorse Val Jared. Today you're going to have a meeting with him and... where the hell are you going?" Stockton was getting up, putting on his coat, and gathering his things.

"I'll meet Val Jared on the debate stage." said Stockton. "As to meetings... this one is over."

"There won't be any debates!" called out Hammonds as Stockton turned to go. Hammonds stood up. "You just don't get it, do you Stockton... it's over. Jared is going to be our nominee. Now you can play ball, take the consolation prize he's going to offer you... or you can do it the hard way. And if you do it the hard way, then what I told you a few minutes ago will be true: you will be finished in State politics."

"So, Sean... what's it going to be?" asked Molinari in his unnervingly gentle, quiet voice...

Part 8 - Retaliation

Captain Cindy Ross was typing on her computer when there was a knock on the door. Myron and Mary Milton came in.

"Ma'am," Mary said, "we need to make your computer more secure."

"Oh!" Cindy said as she looked at her monitor. "Well... okay."

Mary unplugged the access line to Cindy's laptop and hooked in what looked like a little box, then plugged that back into the computer. Mary then put a jump drive into the USB port and copied and ran a program.

"This program scrambles the signal coming out and going into your computer, ma'am. Our main computer is also running programs that will recognize your signal and decode the information, but in such a way that it can't be tracked as easily. We've put this on the Chief's lines and the Commander's lines, as well."

"Can't someone come in at night and hook up and read what this little box in the wires does?"

"Well, they can, ma'am," said Myron, "but it doesn't help. It's only one layer. Another is now on your computer, and a third on our servers. It's based on PGP from years ago, but adds more layers."

"All right." said Cindy. "By the way, since I have you two here... I am looking for information on a lawyer, Charles 'Chuck' Roland. I've been getting basic stuff, but was about to go to the FBI for more. Why don't you two glance into him and see what you can get."

"Wilco." said Myron. "Anything in particular?"

"He was SBI Agent Pelletier's lawyer yesterday. Not SBI-appointed, but brought in by Pelletier, and he's 'Gresham & Mason'. I had a feeling when I was seeing him at the table yesterday, and I think there's more to him than meets the eye. Just a hunch."

"Or a vibe from the daughter of the psychic Dr. Eckhart." said Mary irreverently. "Yes ma'am, we'll look into it."

"And while you're at it..." said a voice from behind them. Your Iron Crowbar had quietly intruded upon the others in Cindy's office. "... get a picture or two of Roland and run it through the FBI's facial scanning technology, as well as that DMV picture of 'Lou Bell' we had before. Oh, sorry to intrude. I'll leave you alone to continue..." With that, I left the office.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

11:30am. State Senator Katherine Woodburn walked into the Campaign Headquarters of SBI Director Jack Lewis in Midtown. She was led to the meeting taking place in the back room. She was asked to secure her purse and cellphone in a locker with a key, like those in a bus station. She did so, keeping the key. She was swept for bugs, then admitted. The room was nearly full, as she was one of the last to arrive at the 'all hands on deck' meeting.

A moment later, Director Lewis arrived. Even he was asked to secure his belongings in a locker, which he did. Upon his coming in, everyone stood. He took his place at the center of the long oval table rather than the end. Katherine was seated in a high place, only two seats to the right of the Democrat Candidate for Governor.

"Okay, guys," said Lewis. "It's been a rough couple of days. So, what's the damage?"

"Sir," said the Queen of Opposition Research, Katherine's staffer who was on loan to and being paid well by Jack Lewis's campaign, "your poll numbers yesterday didn't move. But the overnights we got this morning show you've dropped some. It was 52-39 before the SBI incident, and against Stockton alone. Today it's 50-38 against Stockton if he were the nominee... but it's 48-45 vs. Jared, and of course I have to add the old 'within the margin of error'."

"How's that trending?" asked Katherine Woodburn, meaning the way that undecideds and crossover voters were going.

"Still too early to tell, ma'am." said the Queen of Opposition Research. "We were expecting to get most of the undecideds against Stockton. But Jared entering the race and the recent news might change that dynamic."

"If I may, sir," said one of the pollsters, "we are still expecting the Republicans to have a fight, even with short time to the State primaries. If Stockton roughs up Jared enough, you might climb back to your comfortable lead."

"Thank you, son," said Lewis, "and don't take this personally when I say that I'm not looking for 'might' and 'maybe'. We have to prepare for all eventualities, including Stockton conceding to Jared, and this SBI fiasco blowing up in our faces. Now I think the Republicans are so fucked up and so fucking toxic that we can win against them no matter what. But Jared is a popular Governor that can bring a populist message from the Republican side and get away with it. So we have our work cut out for us."